A Wizard in Iwatodai URE V2
by Xamusel - Gamma 11
Summary: Persona Users are not the only people who can fight Shadows. A young man comes to Iwatodai for entirely separate reasons, and ends up joining SEES as they seek to put an end to the Dark Hour. Even so, with Rings in hand, the Wizard shall be a light of hope for the world…
1. Prologue

**Xamusel: Okay, here's a story being rewritten for what could possibly be the last time, especially since Takeshi seems to have dropped out of the desire to work on this story as much as he and I used to work on this together.**

 **Takeshi Yamato: For the record, my Muse can be rather fickle, and I'd rather not let that hold this story back. Not to mention, with my current focus, watching shows like Kamen Rider Wizard to learn what I'd need to run that plot concurrently with P3 is a bit lower on my priorities, which would hold the story up further if I was more involved. I'll still write for a couple of my OCs, and help with the planning stages as best I can, but that's about it.**

 **Xamusel: Yeah, that's the sad reality of what's going on. However, I'm somewhat unsure if I should accept help co-writing this from anyone else. The truth is, I'd rather not risk the story going off the rails that aren't canon's rails, especially since this is going to be as long as it possibly can without it going all crazier than intended. If you've read the previous two versions of this story, no, Xenosaga won't be a sidestory for this that will be official.**

 **Well, in any case… The Wheel Of Fate Is Turning. Rebel 1,** _ **Action!**_

* * *

 _Long ago, magic and science worked together in harmony. But with the rise of civilization, magic fell into the shadows. It is now the present day. One man uses magic to hold back forces that science is powerless to stop. He is known as… the Wizard._

* * *

 _Ten years ago, an explosion happened in the city of Iwatodai. In the aftermath of that explosion, a 'hidden' 25th hour of the day began to occur - every day, at midnight Japanese Time, this hidden hour would occur, casting an eerie green glow over the environment, turning water to blood, and placing all of humanity in coffins. Any humans not found in coffins at this time would have their minds devoured by beasts known as Shadows, causing an 'illness' that people began to term Apathy Syndrome._

 _However, the Kirijo Group, one of Japan's largest mega-corporations, managed to discover a way to fight the Shadows: The power of Persona, and those who have the 'Potential' to summon one through special devices known as Evokers. A group of High-Schoolers, led by Mitsuru Kirijo, daughter of the Kirijo Group CEO, was formed, and are currently based out of the Kirijo Dorm for Gekkoukan High School._

 _They are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES._

* * *

 **A Wizard in Iwatodai**  
 _Story primarily written by Xamusel this time, with some help from Takeshi Yamato_

* * *

 **Prologue** **:** The Wizard Arrives

* * *

A young brown-haired man in a black leather coat and motorcycle helmet that matched his eyes, with hot pink pants and a shirt with pink specks on it, was riding down the highway from one end of the country to the end of the country where Tatsumi Port Island was. He knew he was going to be late in getting to his guardian's current home, but he also knew that he couldn't just break the speed limit, either. He didn't want to have a criminal record on top of being a dropout from his previous high school on his list of negligent behavior that would need to be corrected.

As he moved through extremely slow traffic, he finally found a place to move through to exit the highway, so he took it. It was when he had taken the exit and had gone down the road a few miles when he found that he had made something of a mistake.

"Uh-oh… I forgot that Mikage-cho was between where I started and Iwatodai," the young man said, looking at his left after stopping momentarily. "I wouldn't have had to see the old SEBEC building if I remembered about this."

Indeed, with the unintended detour to Mikage-cho, he saw an old and abandoned building that had seen way better days… even if it was only in the last 13 years that the SEBEC branch was actually desecrated. In fact, hardly anyone wanted to go in there for normal business, what with the fact that there wasn't anyone around who would consider it good for business to go in there _ever_. It was so bad—

"Hey!" a police officer called out from a distance away and ahead of him. "What are you doing out here at this late a time?!"

"Sorry, officer," the young man said, after riding his motorcycle over to the police officer. "I was headed for Iwatodai, but I got stuck in traffic before I got off near here. Do you know which way to a good back road from here?"

Before the police officer could give the young man some advice, however, he transmogrified into a dark-green crystalline coffin.

The young man sighed in exasperation. "Again?!" he nearly yelled out loud. "How come I keep on experiencing this event whenever it's midnight? It's starting to get _really_ annoying…"

With that, he looked around for a sign of which way to go from there, before, when he did find one, he rode on his motorcycle out of town. He figured that he had about 15 minutes after this strange time-stopping event before he could find his way to his guardian's shop and house. It was about time to prove that to be the case.

* * *

 _Later_

 _In the area of Iwatodai_

A young man with blue hair and eyes, wearing the boys uniform of the local co-ed high school, was walking in what he thought was the direction of his assigned dormitory. He looked around for the signposts to signify that he was on his way to where he needed to go, but it seemed like he was utterly lost. For all that he was able to ascertain, it seemed like the streets he wanted didn't exist… it was a bit disheartening, but he wouldn't want to be _completely_ lost on his first day back in town after ten years away.

This young man sighed deeply. ' _Well, this is a bummer,'_ he thought. ' _How did I get lost on the first day back home? Wait, I don't want to think of the possible answer to that. In any case, I wonder how my friend is in this hour? I hope she's doing alright, as well as whoever she's staying with…_

' _No, she_ has _to be okay, I just know it! I don't want to find out later that she suffered from Apathy Syndrome, so I'll protect her from the danger, even if she doesn't know that I'm doing it for her. All I need to do is find out if she's in a coffin or not, due to the time-space paradox, while being targeted by - is that a_ motorcycle _?'_

Indeed, there was a motorcycle headed down the road in his direction, with the rider being the young man from earlier. The rider, noticing the schoolboy, stopped a bit away from him and opened his visor up. "Hey," the rider said, "need a lift?"

The schoolboy looked at the rider and asked, "How come you're active in this time-space paradox? I mean, normal people are in coffins for one reason or another during this paradox, so, why aren't you?"

The rider looked at a belt buckle of sorts on his waist, prompting the schoolboy to wonder if he'd ever saw it before, and where he might have seen it. Before he could figure it out on his own, though, the rider said, "I'm not normal to begin with. I was abducted a few years ago, having been made a survivor of a mess out near the coast, all because of a ritual that made me and others like me unleash monsters of despair from within."

The schoolboy blinked a few times in rapid succession, before asking, "How come you said you're a survivor in this case? Did the others die or something?"

The rider grimaced, before answering, "The people they once were died, leaving behind their bodies as shells for the monsters to assume as they blend in, somehow or another fooling the senses of nearly everyone around them."

The schoolboy, wisely enough, decided not to press the matter. "Okay, I'll leave it be," he said. "In any case, you wouldn't happen to know how to get to the Kirijo Dormitory from here, would you?"

The rider looked at the schoolboy and asked, "Do you have instructions to where you need to be?" Upon being shown a piece of paper that had the directions to the dorm from the train station, the rider took it in hand and silently read the directions to the end, where he winced. "Okay, that's on the other end of town from here… and in the area of my destination."

The schoolboy looked about ready to facepalm, but he refrained. "Okay," he said, walking over to the motorcycle, "I'll take you up on your offer. Do you have a spare helmet, mister…?"

"Oh, right," the rider said, grabbing a helmet for the schoolboy and giving it to him. "My name's Haruto, Soma Haruto. I'm 16 right now, and about to head to my guardian's shop in town to help him out. Please call me by my given name."

The schoolboy took the paper back and put it away, before putting on the helmet. "My name's Minato, Haruto-san," he said. "Arisato Minato. Feel free to address me politely however you like to." With that, he got on the bike, signalling to Haruto to go on after positioning himself properly.

* * *

 _A short time later_

 _In front of the Kirijo Dorms_

Minato and Haruto came to a stop in front of the correct building, before Minato looked as carefully as possible at the windows. "Er, Haruto-san?" Minato asked.

"Yes?"

"Does electricity really run during this time-space paradox as I've noticed it?"

Haruto opened his mouth to answer, but then shut it almost immediately. "Not to my knowledge, unless the electric devices are supplemented by something not normal to begin with, like Magical energy," he answered.

Minato looked at Haruto for a brief moment, asking, "Speaking from experience?" After receiving a nod, the blue-haired youth sighed. "I see… well, this definitely proves that something strange is going on in town."

Haruto nodded, but, before they could go their separate ways, he felt with his mystic senses that there was someone in the building who was similar to his friend Koyomi. Heeding his own supernatural senses for once, he got off the motorcycle and walked over to the dorm, Minato getting off and following right behind him.

"Haruto-san, don't you have somewhere else to go?" Minato asked, bringing Haruto back to reality a few steps away from the door.

"Oh, there's something inside," Haruto replied. "I can feel it somehow, Minato-san, and it feels somewhat familiar."

Minato nodded, before he said, "I'll open the door and see who, or what, is inside. Who knows? It might be nothing important at all." Before Haruto could argue against that, Minato opened the door and walked in, taking the helmet off of his head—

"You're late," a boy's voice said from Minato's left. "I've been waiting a long time for you."

Minato looked in the direction of his left, even as Haruto rushed in to see the source of the noise. "Who said that?!" Haruto questioned.

"Hmm? A second Mage is in town?" The boy, who wore prison-like garments as if they were pajamas, looked perplexed as he asked. "I wonder what the meaning of this is?"

"Okay, what do you _mean_ , 'a second Mage is in town'?" Haruto questioned the boy. "I should be the only one in town, right?"

"You can see and hear me, too? Very peculiar," the boy answered. "I guess you're the first Mage to do that at all."

"Okay, what's going on?" Minato asked, looking between the other two in confusion. "Who is the little guy, Haruto-san, and why is he that important to you?"

Before Haruto could reply to that, however, a snapping of fingers brought the two of them to reality in front of them. "Now, if you want to proceed," the boy, having somehow managed to appear there out of thin air, said, indicating Minato with one hand, "please sign your name there." While he was indicating Minato, the other hand was facing the sign-in counter, where there was a red folder on top. "It's a contract," the boy elaborated. "D—"

" _CONNECT, PLEASE!"_ A voice called out from Haruto's belt buckle, before what seemed to be a red magic circle appeared beside him as he spun around and pulled out a gun from the circle, aiming the weapon at the boy.

"What _sort_ of contract are we talking about?" Haruto questioned, a wary and threatening tone in his voice.

"Oh, the sort that specifies that he'll take full responsibility for his actions," the boy answered. "If he doesn't sign it, he can't proceed, and the world will be in grave danger without him there to protect it."

Minato looked absolutely confused as he glanced between Haruto and the little boy. "Um, what am I missing?" he asked. "It seems like there's a dispute between you two that I'm unaware of, and I would like to know why."

Haruto, unwavering in keeping the weapon held at the boy, eyed Minato carefully and answered, "This is the first I've met him, but he's honestly not someone, or even some _thing_ , to be trifled with. I'm fairly certain that this boy is some sort of demon that would offer contracts for people to foolishly give up their lives in a set amount of time for some worldly thing that is overall useless to the human condition."

It was then that the boy chuckled, in the face of what Haruto said. "You're only half-right, mister Mage," he said. "This _is_ the first we've met, true, but I wouldn't offer a contract to anyone if I didn't feel that they could fulfill the terms written inside. Besides which, if I _were_ a demon, I would've done something to remove your presence by this point."

Haruto hesitated for a brief second, before he lowered his gun. "Alright, you have a point," he conceded. "I hope that there's only the one contract available here, however."

The boy nodded for only a brief amount of time, before he paused and brought a hand to his chin. "Oh, there's another contract here, but I don't know who to give it to," he admitted at last. "It's meant to go to a certain Soma Haruto, but—"

"That would be me," Haruto said, indicating himself.

"Ah, good, I was worried I wouldn't get you your contract," the boy said, looking rather relieved. "Okay, then, I'll be sure to get you your contract in just a bit."

Minato, in the meantime, looked at the contract and took a bit to look over the terms he was going to agree to. What he found in the contract said exactly what the boy was talking about before. When he finished reading it over, he took the quill and signed it, giving his own name to it.

The boy, having seen that Minato signed his contract, walked over to him and said, "Okay, that's one signed. Now for Soma-san's contract." He then picked up the red contract folder and replaced it with a blue one from out of thin air.

Haruto walked over to the contract and took a careful look at it. "Okay, let's see here," he said. "It says, 'I hereby solemnly swear that I will defeat the Phantom known as Wiseman before he can hold Sabbat again, regardless of the cost it might have. If I don't stop said Sabbat from happening, I will have to loop through the prior two months until I get it right, in which case the effect on my soul will be nullified after the final battle. I also solemnly swear to assist the organization known as SEES in their times of crisis, to prevent the Fall of Death, and whatever else would come about from the effects of the hidden 25th hour.' Is this contract meant to be followed to the letter, by spirit, or both?"

"Both," the boy answered. "I hope you manage to come to a good decision soon…"

"Right, I see now," Haruto replied when he saw the boy pause. "I'll sign it, but only when I know what SEES is, and how I'm supposed to assist them."

The boy nodded in understanding. "This dorm is the home of SEES, actually," he said. "It's a group meant to fight monsters of the human psyche. You have one way to fight monsters, but you'll possibly get a second one soon, for a different set of monsters altogether."

Haruto nodded, before he decided to sign the contract. After signing, he handed the contract to the boy. "Here you go," he said.

"Thank you very much," the boy said, taking the blue contract folder in hand. "No one can escape time," he said ominously, holding both contracts in one hand. "It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." With that, he waved his other hand over the contracts and caused them to vanish. As if the electricity was finally going back to normal for the hour, the shadows of the room expanded over the room, before the boy started fading into the dark. "And so it begins…" he said, hand outstretched for a bit, before he fully vanished.

"Okay, are we _sure_ that's not a demon?" Haruto asked, somewhat regretting his actions earlier. "I don't know of any human being that could pull that—"

"Who's there?!" the voice of a young woman called out, causing Haruto and Minato to look in her direction. The young woman was clad in a pink cardigan, a black skirt that went to her thighs, a red ribbon, a red armband on her left upper arm, and… a gun holster on her right femur? It was her face, however, that had Minato looking at her as a whole.

' _What the - Yukari?! She never said_ anything _about being at_ this _dorm!'_ he thought, reeling from the revelation that his childhood friend was able to move in this hidden hour, all without having to worry about Apathy Syndrome. ' _I have to do something to d—'_

Haruto, at that moment, moved his gun back into position and ready to shoot at his target. " _Another_ demon?!" he exclaimed, holding his weapon steady. "I don't know what kind you are, but you'd better drop your disguise before I pump you full of silver!"

Minato, shaking himself out of shock, rushed towards Haruto and forced the gun to move away from Yukari, at least to some degree. "Haruto-san, that's no demon!" he yelled. "That's my childhood friend Yukari!"

Yukari Takeba, who had been about to draw her gun out from the holster, stopped in mid-motion and exclaimed in shock, "Minato-kun?! What are you _doing_ here at the Kirijo Dorm?! I thought you said you'd be going to a boy's dorm, not this one!" As if just realizing something, she questioned, "Wait, do you _know_ this delinquent, Minato-kun?!"

Before Minato could reply to her, Haruto pushed him away from his gun arm and re-steadied his weapon at Yukari. "Don't evade the inevitable!" he yelled. "You have the same aura around you as a demon hiding in human form! Reveal your true form now, or else I'll—"

"What's going on here?!" Another voice was heard, as two more women stepped into view, one with red hair, one with blue. Both had rather ample busts, DDs at the least, and looked to be a year older than Yukari. The redhead was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and a black skirt, while the bluenette was wearing a dark red jacket over a black shirt with a dark red skirt.

Yukari whirled to face the speaker and exclaimed, "Nayuki-senpai! I thought there were intruders, but one of them is a student at Gekkoukan High School! The other one's threatening to kill me for something I don't know anything about!"

Nayuki, the one with blue hair, noticed the two 'visitors', including the one pointing the strange gun at Yukari. "So I see," she said slowly, even as she reached for her own pistol, holstered on her hip.

At that point, the hidden hour ended, with Minato's ear phones, which were now on his coat, playing Burn My Dread.

* * *

 _Next time on A Wizard in Iwatodai:_

 _"I really missed you, Yukari."_

 _"Aishiteru, Minato-koi."_

 _"'Sup, dude? How's it goin'?"_

 _"You found it, Garuda?"_

 _"I'll be fine. Protecting people is a cop's duty."_

 ** _"Anything you try is useless!"_**

 _"It's… showtime!"_

* * *

 **Xamusel: FINISH!**

… **one of these days, I'm going to stop the BlazBlue references, at least before and after each chapter is completed.**

 **Takeshi Yamato: You could always go to Guilty Gear instead for the references.**

 **Xamusel: Not what I had in mind… I'm trying to cut back on the fighting game references in general. But, what do I know, huh? Besides, I don't own copies of the Guilty Gear franchise, since my focus was on BlazBlue instead.**

 **Well, in any case, Takeshi and I** _ **finally**_ **have the rough draft of this done on the 28th of March, 2016. Before I do any publishing, I'm going to have some help with looking it over to see what could be expanded on and so on and so forth.**

 **Takeshi Yamato: Also, minor trivia apropos to nothing in particular, March 28th is also my Parents' Wedding Anniversary! I won't name them for privacy's sake, or even mention them at all aside from this little notice (and perhaps similar ones on their respective birthdays), but still, thought I'd give them this brief shout-out. :D**

 **Xamusel: I would hope your parents don't mind you giving them that shout-out, Takeshi. I don't know how it works with your folks, though… but, yeah, I'm getting side-tracked.**

 **Now, what could I have had Haruto mean by his comments towards Yukari? As far as how come he said that, well… I'll just say he's distantly related to Raidou Kuzunoha XIV. I don't know for sure how far removed he is, but he's related, at least by way of the same ancestor from a minimum of five generations or so back.**

 **No, I'm not planning on making Haruto Raidou Kuzunoha XV, because there's someone else in line for that position. Besides, Haruto would need to actually** _ **know**_ **of said relation to the original Raidou, which is on his mother's side of the family. All he knows is that his mother taught him about the differences between real humans and demons hiding as humans… but even** _ **that's**_ **faulty information.**

 **Well, time to see how this will go, so I'll shut up for now and let the other people I know look this over for us. See you when this is published! -Xamusel**

* * *

 **EDIT 4/6/2016: Okay, finished the edits, since the previous version had a bit less description than the current version. This is the first published version of what I'll say for this story.**

 **Thank you, everyone, and have a good day. I will see you all next chapter, whenever it will be released, anyway.  
**


	2. Chapter 1

**Xamusel: Okay, here's the first chapter, everyone. I hope that Takeshi and I did a good enough job on this and the one prior… wait, hold on, we didn't even write this chapter yet by the time I wrote that! What was I** _ **thinking**_ **?!**

… **that was a joke, people. I tend to write these notes before I get to the actual meat of the chapter, each and every time.**

 **Eh, no matter, I suppose it's time to get on with the content of this chapter. First in this chapter is a post-view of the previous chapter, AKA the prologue, followed by the rest of the chapter. Also, just as an FYI, there's going to be a use of the opening theme in this (if we're not convinced otherwise) in the middle of the chapter. I'll leave it to your imaginations as to where it'll be.**

 **Now… let's ride!**

* * *

 _Previously on A Wizard in Iwatodai, a Mage named Soma Haruto is introduced to a seemingly normal High School student named Arisato Minato, both needing to make it to their stops on the other side of Iwatodai. Haruto ends up discovering something inside the Kirijo Dorm, which leads to he and Minato signing contracts, before a confrontation in the middle of a "time-space paradox" erupts between Haruto and one of the residents of the dorm. It is only a few moments after the paradox ended where we pick up from where we left off…_

* * *

 **A Wizard in Iwatodai**  
 _by Xamusel and Takeshi Yamato_

* * *

 **Chapter 001** **:** The Ring-Bearing Wizard (I)

* * *

A scant few seconds had passed since the electronics started working again, but it was evidently the right amount of time for Haruto to lower his gun and give off a sigh of some kind. "Okay, for whatever reason, the aura disappeared when the 'paradox' ended," he said. "I really wonder what happened to cause _that_ to happen."

"Er, that's good, I think?" Yukari asked in confusion. "Why would you want to kill me, though, if you didn't have all the facts?"

Haruto opened his mouth to speak, only for the redhead to walk towards Minato. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late," she said. "My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."

Yukari, looking between Mitsuru and the two by the door, eventually asked, "Who's he?"

Mitsuru turned to Yukari and answered, "His name's Arisa—"

"No, I meant the one with the gun, Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari admitted by interruption.

"Oh." Mitsuru looked abashed for a brief time at that.

"I've never seen him around before," Nayuki remarked. "Still… am I assuming you already know Arisato-san, Yukari-san?

Yukari turned to face Nayuki and said, "Y-Yeah, he and I grew up as childhood friends until his parents died."

Haruto was sensing a story in what she said, but decided not to pry. "My name's Soma Haruto," he said. "I'm a Mage who survived a very deadly ritual a few years ago that made Gates, or people with magical potential, into Phantoms by holding onto hope."

Nayuki's eyebrow went up at that. "A Mage, you say?" she asked.

"Nayuki, are you encouraging a make-believe story?" Mitsuru asked the ice-blue haired girl. "There's no way that he's telling the truth about that, or else we would have seen proof of it earlier, with what happened ten years ago."

"You know as well as I do that the truth can be much stranger than fiction, Mitsuru," she said. "I'm not willing to just denounce something just because I haven't seen it happen."

Before Mitsuru could object to that, Minato cleared his throat. "His magical abilities are based on his rings on his hands," he said. "If you don't believe me, where do you think he got his gun from? It came through a red circle of magic, to the best of my knowledge."

Haruto nodded. "There was someone else in the dorm at the time we entered, but it seems like you aren't aware of who said person is," he said. He turned to the door, with his face towards the others, and continued, "Now, if you don't mind, I need to get going to my guardian's house, so—"

At that moment, there was a beeping from next to the door as he approached it. A fairly loud beeping.

"Um, perhaps you should put your gun away, Soma-san?" Nayuki suggested.

Haruto looked at the weapon in his hand, walked back to the lobby, and put the gun in Minato's hands. "I'll leave this with you in your room for tonight," he said, not giving Minato time to object to the idea before he walked out the door.

Nayuki blinked a bit as she watched Haruto leave. "Hmm… he seems slightly anti-social," she remarked. "Then again, if he is a Mage, that might be somewhat expected."

Mitsuru scoffed at that. "I'm not holding my breath about this, Nayuki, and neither should you," she said. "If he really _is_ telling the truth, you'll get a free lunch on me at the Lucky Duck Cafe."

"Alright, Mitsuru, you're on," she said. She then yawned. "For now, though, we should probably get some sleep to prepare for tomorrow." She turned to Yukari. "Yukari-san, do you think you can show Arisato-san to his room?"

"Oh, sure," Yukari answered. Turning to face Minato, she said, "Follow me, Minato-kun." She then walked over to the stairwell, Minato following right behind her.

* * *

 _Slightly later_

 _Second Floor_

Yukari and Minato walked over from the stairwell over to the end of the hall, before Yukari said, "This is it. Kinda easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh, and make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it. So… any questions?"

Minato took some time to think it through, before he nodded. "For starters, what's with the gun?"

Yukari took a moment to consider it, before she said, "Well… it's not an ordinary gun, to be honest. It's mainly for… special circumstances, but it can be used to scare off potential muggers if I came across any."

"Makes sense," Minato admitted. "Second, do you have any idea what Haruto-san was talking about particularly? I mean, the part about having the aura of a demon in disguise, even if I know you aren't a demon or anything similar."

"I… might have an idea…" Yukari admitted. "I… would rather not say what it is at the moment, though…"

Minato looked at Yukari in a bit of confusion. "When do you think you'll talk with me about it? I mean, since we've been separated, I wanted to make sure there weren't any secrets between us… y'know, I really missed you, Yukari."

"I… I missed you, too, Minato…" Yukari replied. "I… I'm glad we're in the same dorm…"

"Yeah…" Minato said. "Third question, would you like to come into my room, so we can finish talking?"

Yukari smiled. "Sure, that would be fine," she said as they entered the room. "Though… I'm not sure how much talking we'll get to do…" before Minato could ask what she meant, she kissed him.

Minato, initially somewhat dazed by what Yukari initiated, soon recovered enough to kiss her back. It really seemed like she was eating something with a strawberry taste before doing this, though, based on the taste of her lips.

Yukari deepened the kiss, her tongue slipping out to tap against Minato's lips, even as she wrapped her arms around Minato, pulling their bodies close together, as she moaned into the kiss…

Minato opened his mouth to let his own tongue move out momentarily, going inside of Yukari's mouth as her tongue went into his mouth. Minato couldn't help but notice that the strawberry taste was stronger _inside_ the mouth for some reason.

Yukari could feel her pussy dampening as their tongues danced around each other… Her arousal building as her feelings for Minato caused her to begin grinding her crotch against his…

Minato felt his pants seem to become a few sizes too small for his cock as his and Yukari's crotches began grinding together. Not only that, but he seemed to remember something that might be a problem for her, if that would even register for her. Breaking apart from the kiss, he asked, "Um… are you still a virgin? I mean, for some reason, I just felt you'd need forewarning about this…"

Yukari smiled. "That's so sweet of you, Minato…" she said. "To answer your question… yes, I am a virgin… I was saving myself for when we met again, to be honest…"

Minato sighed in relief, before he started taking his pants and boxers off. "I really don't know if you'll be able to take this in, though," he said, revealing an erect cock that was at least 10 inches long by 3 inches thick. "I mean, anatomically, it's a nightmare for a guy our age."

"We'll just have to see," Yukari replied with a sultry purr, gazing at his thick cock, even as she dropped her skirt and panties to reveal her shaved pussy. "I… I want you inside me, Minato…"

Minato gulped, before he nodded lustily, even as he asked, "Do you mind going doggy-style first?"

Yukari giggled a bit. "Sure," she said, even as she climbed onto the bed on her hands and knees. "Please… Minato… take my virginity… fuck me…"

Minato nodded, saying, "I'll be more than happy to, Yukari." As he got on top of the bed, he aligned his cock to the entrance of her pussy, before he grabbed at her breasts… which were bound. "Um, Yukari?"

Yukari blushed a bit. "G… guys were always staring at them before I did that..." She admitted. "And I… I wanted you to be the only guy who stared at me in that manner… plus they tended to get in the way during archery practice…"

Minato sighed in understanding. "Okay, I think I get it, Yukari," he said. "I hope you don't mind me removing them, though… they'd be magnificent without the bindings for sure."

"S… sure…" Yukari moaned in arousal. "I… it's fine…"

Minato moved Yukari's shirt up her torso some, before finding the connecting part of her bindings, at which point he took it off… and blinked in amazement as her breasts expanded from what seemed to be a high C to a borderline G to H. "Did… did they _always_ happen to be larger than the norm for girls our age?" he asked.

"P… pretty much…" Yukari admitted. "Now please… take me, Minato…"

Minato nodded, before he grabbed her breasts and pushed his cock into her inner folds, gently at first before hitting the wall of her hymen.

"Ahn…" Yukari moaned in pleasure as she felt Minato's big cock filling her. "I… it's so good…"

"I hope so, Yukari," Minato said. "Do you still want this wall gone, though? I mean, given what your family would think…"

"Mother wouldn't care," Yukari replied bitterly. "D… Dad died around the same time your parents did… and ever since… Mother's been… bouncing from one guy to the next so fast it's almost like she's a prostitute…"

Minato sighed, before he asked, "Then would your dad want you to give it up too soon in your life if he were still alive?"

"I believe he'd want me to give it to the one I truly loved, regardless of how old I was," Yukari replied. "And… I am… Aishiteru, Minato-koi."

Minato nodded, before he massaged her breasts and pushed his cock further in, breaking her hymen with a bit of effort.

Yukari bit her lip to muffle the sounds of pain coming as her hymen broke, but her arousal continued to grow despite this…

Minato pulled a bit back, before he pushed twice as much in that he pulled back. For a reason he didn't know, Yukari's body was starting to become addicting to him, even as he continued sawing into her pussy.

"Ahn… Yes…" Yukari moaned. "Minato-koi… you feel so good inside me..."

Minato, as he continued to saw into Yukari's pussy, grunted in approval. "You… you're so tight, Yukari," he said. "You're intoxicating to me..."

"S… so are you…" Yukari moaned. "You… you fill me up so much… I can't get enough of you…"

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Minato felt his inner coil about to snap, so he warned Yukari, "Gotta cum, Yukari…"

"C-cum inside me!" Yukari pleaded. "Please! Let me feel it!"

Minato slammed his pelvis into the area around Yukari's pussy, bellowing out his own orgasm as his seed shot into her, while she milked him for all it was worth with her own orgasm.

As they came down from their orgasms, Yukari moaned, "Minato-koi… I love you so much…"

"Aishiteru, Yukari-koi," Minato said, before he yawned. "How about we get some shuteye in the bed?"

"Y… yeah…" Yukari replied with a yawn of her own. "G… good night, Minato-koi…"

Minato, in a way that nobody would ever replicate other than him, managed to pull the covers over he and Yukari. "G… g'night," he said, before the two of them fell asleep.

Little did they know of what would happen in 40 weeks maximum.

* * *

 _Same Time_

 _Third Floor_

Nayuki groaned slightly. "They're finally done…" she muttered. "Mitsuru, we're _going_ to have to soundproof the rooms, preferably sooner rather than later…"

Mitsuru rubbed her forehead with one hand. "I don't get why you're in my room right now, Nayuki," she said. "However, I do agree, we need to soundproof the rooms rather soon."

Nayuki shrugged. "Well, for starters, your room's a bit farther away from the end of the hall, thought the distance might muffle the sounds of the two lovebirds a bit," she admitted. "Besides… we could treat it as a mini-sleepover—we had those a lot while growing up, remember?

Mitsuru nodded, before removing her hand from her forehead. "I remember," she said, "though I seem to recall that you wanted to drop the idea of sleepovers for good when we were 12."

Nayuki chuckled a bit. "Well… I guess part of me just wanted to spend the night with you again," she admitted, her cheeks flushing slightly, but hopefully not enough for Mitsuru to notice.

If Mitsuru noticed, she didn't comment. "I see," she said. "Okay, let's get this over with tonight, then." With that, she walked over to her bed, pulling off the covers. "You take the bed, Nayuki, I'll take the floor."

"Umm… Why don't we share the bed, instead?" Nayuki asked hopefully.

Mitsuru opened her mouth to say why not, but paused before words could come out. "Uh… why not?" she finally got out after what seemed to be a silent minute.

Nayuki smiled, before climbing into bed, seeming to practically drag Mitsuru in after her.

"Na-Nayuki!" Mitsuru almost shouted. "Take it easy on me, will you?"

Nayuki giggled sheepishly. "S… sorry…" she said after a moment. She placed her arms around Mitsuru gently, holding her friend close to her. "Well… good night, Mitsuru…"

"Good night… Nayuki," Mitsuru replied, before sleep claimed them for the rest of the night.

Though Nayuki's dreams turned in a slightly different direction, as her sleeping mind fantasized about the two of them… in a state of undress, mimicking the activities of the other couple one floor below them…

* * *

 _Early Morning, April 7th, 2009_

 _Minato's Dorm_

Minato woke up very fast, as if he had suffered a nightmare, only to remember that he wasn't alone in bed. Looking around him, he saw that Yukari was right under him in a sleeping position, being cushioned by her mammaries.

' _Geez, that looks like it hurts,'_ he thought. ' _Then again, since I was part of the problem last night, I have to be extra careful in how we get to sleep…'_

Pulling himself out of Yukari and getting out of bed, he did a status check on his room. "Looks like everything is in place here," he said with a grateful nod. "Now… I have to get some decent clothes on for school today."

"Mmm…" he heard Yukari groan, as she slowly regained consciousness. "Ngh… my breasts are sore…"

"Good morning to you, too, Yukari-koi," Minato said as he walked to get some clothes on. "I apologize about the soreness, but there's nothing I can do about that now."

Yukari blinked a bit, but then smiled as the memories of last night returned. "Good morning, Minato-koi…" she said. "And no worries… it's kinda my fault for not managing to get into another position to sleep…"

Minato nodded while getting into a different pair of boxers. "Not to worry, Yukari-koi," he said. "It's actually more my fault… since I forgot we were both still virgins until midnight last night, I didn't account for our stamina in that field."

Yukari smiled, as she gave Minato a kiss on the cheek. "It's fine, Minato-koi," she said. "I should probably get back to my room, get a fresh uniform on for school today—I'll show you around once we get there." Her smile grew slightly sultry. "Then, when we get back… perhaps we could move my stuff in here, too? Or we could move your stuff into my room, if you'd prefer."

Minato simply shrugged, even as he pulled on a fresh shirt and a fresh pair of pants. "It's up to you, I'd say," he replied. "I don't know the rules of the dorm like you do, either, so…"

"You'll be moving into Minato-san's room, Yukari-san," Nayuki's voice said flatly, as the two turned to see the bluenette in the doorway, a deadpan look on her face. "Until such time as we get the rooms soundproofed, at the very least."

Minato chuckled sheepishly. "Er… oops?" he asked somewhat rhetorically.

Nayuki's expression softened a bit. "I don't fault you for what you did last night," she said. "You're childhood friends, you only just reunited, and I'm imagining you had a lot of unresolved tension without realizing it, that you managed to release last night." Her eyes narrowed. "Just please, try and keep it down for the rest of us, alright? Or if you can't, at least rent out a room at Shirakawa Boulevard for a night."

Minato blinked, before looking at Yukari. "Do you know what sort of street that is, Yukari-koi?" he asked.

Yukari nodded, blushing. "Before I met you again, I would never have gone there willingly…" she admitted. "Sh… Shirakawa Boulevard is… basically, it's Iwatodai's Red Light District…"

Minato's eyes bulged out of his skull briefly, before he calmed his body down. "O-kay… thanks for the heads up, Yukari-koi," he said, mentally adding something to his to-do list.

Yukari nodded, even as Nayuki cleared her throat. "Anyway, go up to your room and get changed, Yukari-san," she said. "Once we get back, Mitsuru and I will help you move your stuff.

Yukari simply kept on nodding, before saying, "Alright, Nayuki-senpai."

* * *

 _Later_

 _On the way to the high school_

Minato and Yukari were taking the train over to their high school, even as they were just enjoying the silence between each other. The only times they would talk was when Minato was taking in the sights, or something along those lines. For instance…

"Look, there it is," Yukari said, pointing Minato in the direction of the school from inside the train.

"Huh…" Minato stated. "Wasn't there a lab there originally?"

"Y… yeah…" Yukari said, looking slightly downcast. "There was… Dad was working there… but… there was an explosion…"

"I see…" Minato replied, feeling guilty for bringing it up. "Sorry for asking, Yukari."

"I… It's fine," Yukari replied, wiping tears out of her eyes. "Anyway, the school was built after the explosion. Kind of ironic, going to school over the same place where Dad died, huh?"

Minato said nothing, only nodding his assent, but it was enough.

* * *

 _Later_

 _Inside the high school_

"So, this place is called Gekkoukan High School, huh?" Minato asked when he walked to the shoe locker assigned to him. "Don't you think the name's ironic?"

"A little," Yukari agreed. "Anyway, we should probably get you to the faculty office, so we can get you checked in, and possibly introduced to your homeroom teacher."

"Why don't we figure out which class it is, first?" Minato asked, after switching his outdoor shoes for his indoor ones. "I mean, that's why the billboard has that info, right?"

"Point taken," Yukari admitted, before she noticed the crowd already around the billboard. "Then again, do you see that crowd? Not sure we could make our way through all of them before we have to go to the morning Assembly."

Minato looked at the crowd, before turning his focus to Yukari again. "Well, time to go to the faculty office, then," he said. "Care to show me the way?"

"Sure, follow me," she said, leading him down the hall to the Faculty Office.

Shortly after making it to the Faculty Office, Minato turned to face Yukari and said, "I'll be alright on my own in here. Why don't you check which class you're assigned to this time?"

"Are you sure, Minato?" Yukari asked him, concern in her tone. "I mean—"

"I'm positive," Minato answered, nodding to her. "I'll be alright, I swear, Yukari."

"Okay, if you say so," she relented after a moment.

"Thank you, Yukari," Minato said, before he walked over to the door. "I'll see you later, then," he added, before opening the door and walking inside.

When he got inside a certain ways, he looked around, trying to find his hom—

"Oh, are you the new student?" a woman's voice asked him from his left.

"Hm?" Minato asked, turning to face the teacher, before nodding. "Yeah, that's right."

The teacher looked at her file on hand, saying, "Minato Arisato… 11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places…"

"Er, that comes with being an orphan," Minato said, gaining a gasp from the teacher. "I take it you didn't read this beforehand?"

"No, I'm afraid not," the teacher answered, shaking her head. "Still, why move around a lot? I see you've even lived in _America_ for some of that time…"

"I was shuffled around a lot with my little sisters, and Stanwood was the only town where we had enough peace and quiet, due to it being a farming town," Minato answered, before shivering uncontrollably. "It was a right pain, though, since we had to be homeschooled in the Japanese system alongside being in the American school system there."

The teacher winced at that last part. "Never a good idea to do simultaneous school systems when you're supposed to be more normal," she said. "In any case, why the move here? Is there any real significance to it?"

"I moved _from_ here since December, 1999," Minato clarified. "I'm coming home for my last years of schooling."

The teacher nodded. "Ah, that's right," she said. "I'm Toriumi Isako-sensei. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

"Nice to meet you!" Minato enthusiastically said, bringing his hand in the right motion for showing it.

"Wow, such enthusiasm," Isako said. "Have you seen the classroom assignments?"

"No, I came straight here," Minato answered, shaking his head.

"Well, you're in 2-F; that's my class," Isako said. "But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me."

* * *

 _Later_

 _In the auditorium_

"As you begin the new school year," the principal, an old man who could have easily been replaced by that point in time, droned, "I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means…"

As the old man continued his speech, a student attempted to get Minato's attention from behind him, saying, "Psst… hey! You came to school with Yukari-san this morning, right? I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah? What could it be?" Minato asked, even though he feared for Yukari and his safety from harassers.

"Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" the student asked him.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't believe who said boyfriend is," Minato answered.

"How come you say that?" the student asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Because I've known Yukari since before the incident 10 years ago," Minato answered. "She wouldn't want anyone to find out for a while yet, not until she was ready."

"So you know her that well?" the student asked for clarification.

Before Minato could answer, however, a teacher from another class said, "I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Toriumi-sensei's class…"

Isako shushed the student and Minato, saying, "Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"

* * *

 _After School_

 _Class 2-F_

Minato was getting up from his seat in the front middle of the classroom, headed for the door, when he saw a student in a baseball cap and a blue button-up shirt underneath his school blazer walk up to him and ask, "'Sup, dude? How's it goin'?"

"Who are you?" Minato asked.

"Me?" the student asked. "I'm Iori Junpei. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid, so I wanted to say, 'hey.' …See what a nice guy I am!"

As Junpei was about to continue talking, Yukari walked up, prompting him to say, "Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again."

Yukari sighed irritably, before saying, "At it again, huh? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"Wait, what's with the nickname you gave Yukari?" Minato asked, before Junpei could say anything. "I don't think she likes it."

Junpei opened his mouth to say something, but he fully registered what he was hearing. "Wait… how well do you two know each other?" Junpei asked, fully curious and concerned at the same time.

"We're childhood friends, Iori," Yukari answered. "Although, and I _don't_ want you spreading any rumors about this, we took it to the next level recently, since he was coming back to the Tatsumi Port Island region."

Junpei's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, seriously?" he asked.

Yukari nodded. "Yes, although I'm certain he wouldn't mind having you as a friend…" she turned her attention to Minato as she said that. "…would you?"

"No, I wouldn't mind," Minato shook his head. "So… how do you do, Iori?"

Junpei smiled. "Well, glad to make a new friend," he said. "And I won't say anything, but you know how this school is, Yuka-t… Yukari-san."

Yukari nodded. "Alright, you got a point," she said, before putting a hand to her chin. "Although, it seems like Minato's wrong about one thing…"

"Oh?" Minato asked. "What's that, Yukari?"

"I got accustomed to being called Yuka-tan by Iori…" Yukari answered. "Although, what would you prefer me to call you, Iori?"

Junpei scratched the back of his head for a brief moment, before saying, "I, uh, Jun works… okay with you guys?"

Minato thought for a few minutes, before nodding. "Works for me," he said. "How about you, Yukari?"

Yukari nodded. "Okay, then, Jun," she said. "I suppose that works better than under normal circumstances…" she took a look at the clock briefly, before she did a double-take. "Oh, crap! I have to go to Archery practice now!" Turning her attention back to Minato and Junpei, she asked, "Jun, could you take Minato back to the Kirijo Dorm for me? I don't want him to be home too late, especially given the curfew we have there."

Junpei, upon hearing that, recoiled a bit. "Y-yeah, I get that," he said. "Sure, I'll take him back to the Kirijo Dorm for you, Yuka-tan."

Yukari nodded, giving a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jun," she said, before walking out to her club activities.

Junpei turned his attention to Minato at that, before saying, "Heheheh… this is gonna be a fun year! I can feel it!"

Minato looked at Junpei with a fair bit of confusion on his face. "Oh? How can you feel that?" he asked.

"Eh, just something I have attuned to me specifically," Junpei answered. "It probably wouldn't make any sense whatsoever to you right now, though, but who knows?" Getting his backpack on, he turned to the door and asked, "Shall we get going? I don't want to make Yuka-tan mad at me for not doing what I said I would…"

Minato got his school bag under his arm and nodded. "Sounds good to me," he said, before both walked out of their classroom.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

 _On a light pole in Iwatodai_

Haruto was sitting on the part of the street light which hung out from the side of the road, taking the time to think over his previous encounter from the night before. While he was certain that he would see the members of SEES in their official capacity, he didn't know what to make of the one that felt like a demon in disguise for the brief time he could sense it. "Well, that was really odd, what happened last night…" he said out loud. "I mean, I know I've been seeing that particular hour a lot before last night, but I honestly thought I was one of the strange exceptions to the rule of nobody is allowed out of their coffin states. However, what really got me was the demonic feeling, which I could've sworn was going to stay around longer than it did…"

After a few moments of pondering, he shook his head. "I better not worry about it, then," he said. He then pulled out a Plain Sugar Doughnut from a bag in his left hand, taking a bite out of it and going, "Yum." As he was chewing his bite, a small plastic-based red bird of sorts came flying on by, circling around him and getting his attention. "You found it, Garuda?" he asked the plastic bird, which nodded. "Oh well," he said right after, putting the doughnut back in the bag. "Guess I'll hold off on these."

With that, he placed his right hand, which had the same ring from the night before, over his Driver, which had it call out, " _CONNECT, PLEASE!"_ When the magic circle appeared, he pulled out his motorcycle from where he had it on the other side of the circle, sending it down to the street below wheels facing down. As soon as he was satisfied with his handiwork, he lept down from his perch and landed right in the seat of his motorcycle, helmet on his head. Reaching his right hand to the visor, he said to Garuda, "Show me the way, please." With that, he flipped the visor down and started following the plastic monster.

* * *

 _A short time later_

 _With Junpei and Minato_

"Have you ever heard of the American comedy Hogan's Heroes, Jun?" Minato asked as he and Junpei walked down the road, hoping to see what his classmate liked among the cultural aspects of the world around them.

Junpei looked at Minato while they were walking down the road. "Um, no, not to my knowledge," he answered. "Why? What's it about?"

"Hogan's Heroes is about a group of Allied soldiers in a Nazi German POW camp," Minato replied, even as his eyes were focused on the road around him. "It's not exactly a normal group, either, since they continuously foil plot after plot by the Nazis."

"Wait, hold on," Junpei spoke up again. "How can a group of POWs foil the plots of their captors?"

"Well," Minato answered, holding up a closed hand. He extended a finger, saying, "first of all, the heroes were planted there by the Allies, with a lot of crazy ideas in how to tamper with German happenings." Extending a second finger, he continued, "Next, the heroes were placed in one of the worst places Germany had to prevent the stuff they did, Stalag 13."

"What's the deal with Stalag 13, then?" Junpei asked, quite curious.

"Stalag 13 was purported to be the most secure place in all of Germany," Minato answered, "at least in terms of POW camps. They had a zero successful escape rating amongst their prisoners…"

Junpei took a moment to process what he heard. "Wait, so you're saying the heroes never attempted to get out? Why not?!"

"Simple," Minato answered. "They'd be deserting their post as assigned by the Allies. Remember, they were _planted_ in Stalag 13, which means they faked being captured and shipped to that camp. The only time they attempted to get out, it was when a troublesome British Colonel with seniority over the main hero essentially ordered the heroes to pull it off, while they were trying to get someone out of Nazi Germany."

Junpei scratched the back of his neck. "Eh, you got a good point," he admitted. "Still, what happened to the heroes at the end of the show? Did the war end?"

"Er…" Minato let out. "Actually, the actor for Colonel Hogan died shortly after the last episode aired came out, so they stopped releasing the show." He shook his head in disappointment. "A shame, since it ended on such a subpar note, too."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Junpei winced as he said that.

Before more could be said, however, the sounds of police sirens could be heard from down the road, headed in their direction from behind.

Minato looked around, seeing a police car headed for a factory, before more of them came driving on to the same location. "Hey, Jun," he said, pointing at the factory. "What could possibly be over there that would get the police involved?"

Junpei looked, seeing the same thing going on. "I have no idea," he admitted.

Minato closed his eyes for a little bit, before he dramatically opened them back up. "I think this warrants an investigation," he said.

"What, are you crazy?!" Junpei asked, shocked. "If the cops see us looking around, we could get in trouble! Plus, on the off chance they get in over their heads about something, do you seriously believe we'd stand a chance where they couldn't?!"

Minato turned to face Junpei, a steel glint in his blue eyes. "Use the Force, young Padawan, and don't fear what could possibly happen," he said. He then took off running towards the factory.

Junpei facepalmed. "Man, if he gets in over his head and gets killed or worse, Yuka-tan is gonna have my ass…" he muttered, before running after Minato.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

 _At the factory_

A black police car pulled up into the driveway of the factory, every other police car in the area emptied out and waiting for the senior officer to step onto the scene. The senior officer in question stepped out of his assigned vehicle from the right side of the black unmarked car, walking over to one of his subordinates as a junior detective jogged to catch up to him. When he reached a subordinate, he asked the other man, "What's the situation?"

"There are still several workers inside," the regular blue shirt answered, holding his revolver at a downward angle.

Turning to face the junior detective, who rode in the car with him, he asked, "Think you can handle this, Daimon?"

Daimon, a woman in her twenties with dark brown hair and brown eyes, wearing a white dress shirt under her grey dress coat and pants, checked her ammo in her own revolver and put the gun back in order. "I'll be fine," she answered, nodding. Her senpai smiled at her, before he walked over to the side entrance, Daimon following right behind him. "Protecting people is a cop's duty," she added, walking while talking.

"Alright," the senior officer nodded to everyone else in the group, who all were looking at him. "Then we're going in!"

As one, the police officers of the Iwatodai Metropolitan Police filed in the entryway, one by one. Daimon looked about ready to apprehend whatever criminals were in the factory, even as one of the blue shirted officers nodded in the general direction of everyone else, when all of them but the senior officer were in the entry corridor. With that, they all rushed in, guns raised…

…only to stop in shocked surprise as they saw what should be impossible, as what looked like humanoid figures made up of stone, with veins of gold running along their bodies randomly, and golden horns on their heads, were assaulting the factory workers.

"What… are those?" Daimon asked, fear creeping out of her voice.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_

 _Right outside the factory_

Junpei, having arrived with Minato shortly after the police officers had gone inside, looked at the scene in question through a window and asked, "What… are those?" He was literally mirroring Daimon's tone, too.

At that moment, Minato… felt, for lack of a better term, something odd in the air, even as he and Junpei saw the humanoid figures turn their attention to the police force there. "This doesn't bode well…" he said.

"Dude, that should be obvious!" Junpei retorted, spinning around to face Minato. "At least the police are armed, otherwise those things would be more trouble to take out than it should be, all th—"

At that moment, gunshots were fired, causing the two of them to look at the scene… of the monsters advancing on the police, bullets bouncing off, before the shots stopped firing.

"I don't believe it!" Junpei exclaimed.

* * *

"I don't believe it!" Daimon exclaimed, fear really coming out in full force, before the monsters started beating the crap out of the police. At one point in the smackdown, one of the monsters grabbed the female detective and threw her to the ground, causing her to land face first and skid to a halt a few feet away. Turning to face the scene around her, she saw a blue, grey, gold, and red monster, one who looked like a minotaur, kicking an officer down to the ground before facing her and advancing to her spot. Fear flowing through her veins like blood, she opened fire on the monster, three shots hitting the creature and bouncing off… before the hammer clicked, saying that there was no more ammo in her revolver, even as she refused to believe what her gun said.

The minotaur eventually reached Daimon, grabbing her gun hand and bringing her up closer to it, before saying, " **Anything you try is useless!"** After that part, it grabbed the back of Daimon's dress coat and knocked her gun out of her hand, which clattered to the ground. Using a hand to grab her neck, the minotaur lifted her off the ground, seemingly intent on killing her.

Daimon moved her right hand to a locket around her neck very slowly, as her strength was fading very fast, trying to retain her strength as much as possible.

* * *

 _Slightly earlier_

"How can the police be inept at stopping these things?!" Junpei questioned, looking as mad as he felt. "Nobody in the world seems to have a _chance_ of beating these guys if the police don't have one!"

Minato looked at the minotaur monster for a few seconds, before he pointed at it. "Jun," he said. "That monster…"

"Yeah?" Junpei asked, looking at Minato. "What is it?"

"It used to be human."

Junpei looked at the minotaur again, before—

 _*CRASH!*_

—a motorcycle barged on into the factory, breaking a wall in the process.

* * *

Haruto sat in the seat of his motorcycle, riding through the factory floor and knocking the non-minotaur monsters onto the floor around him. Finding a spot to come to a stop, he turned in a circle and knocked a few more of the stone creatures down, before fully stopping. As soon as he stopped the motorcycle, he placed his right hand over his Driver, letting it call out, " _CONNECT, PLEASE!"_ When the magic circle showed up, he was spinning dramatically to face the monsters, pulling his gun out from Minato's room with the magic involved in his powers and aiming it at the minotaur.

* * *

"What the… how did he do that?!" Junpei questioned out loud.

Minato was silent for a brief period, before asking softly, "Haruto-san?"

* * *

The minotaur, holding onto Daimon's neck from behind, questioned, " **What?!"** Even so, it was ready for using a human shield if necessary.

Haruto spun around in response, firing off four bullets, each of them engraved with magic circles. Two of the bullets headed straight for the monster holding Daimon, even as it moved her to intercept the bullets, but they mysteriously veered off course from her and blasted its left horn off its head! With the minotaur knocked backwards, it flung Daimon forward, causing her to land on her hands and knees as Haruto finished the spin.

The minotaur got back to a stable position, before yelling, " **Silver bullets?! You're… a mage!"**

* * *

"A mage?" Junpei asked incredulously, even if he saw it with his own two eyes.

* * *

Daimon moved back up to a kneeling position, asking in disbelief as she looked at Haruto, "A mage?"

Haruto merely smiled in reassurance.

" **Damn you!"** the minotaur yelled, holding up a fireball in its right hand, before throwing it straight at Haruto and engulfing him in flame!

Daimon covered her head and turned away, preferring not to see what she thought would be a charred corpse, before a strange sound reached her ears, causing everyone present to look at the flames. What they saw was the flames being _absorbed_ into a magic circle to Haruto's left, his left hand outstretched and wearing a red ring with a faceplate on it. Everyone saw that Haruto was wearing a mostly black outfit, with a trench coat that had a red inside, red gem-like plates on his chest, and a mask that looked like the ring on his hand.

The minotaur looked at Haruto and asked, " **You're Wizard?"**

Haruto, currently the mage known as Wizard, moved his left hand to closer to his face and said, "It's… showtime!" With that, he walked towards the minotaur and the stone monsters.

 _Maji ka!? Maji de!? Maji da! Showtime!_ _(Magic? For real?! It's the real thing! Showtime!)_

The minotaur pointed at Wizard with both hands, yelling, " **Go!"** With that order, the grunts charged with stone spears, even as Wizard shot a few of them out of his way.

 _Maru de tsuki to taiyou kasanaru toki no shougeki!_ _(It's as shocking as the moon overlapping the sun!)_

Eventually, he performed a couple evasive maneuvers, dodging spear strikes before he did some jumping spin kicks. When he stopped, he got back to his feet and gripped his gun better, getting ready to fire it some more.

 _Dare datte kiseki shinjite mitai_ _(It would make anyone believe in miracles)_

When he fired a few rounds into different grunts, even while he was walking forward, a few of them disintegrated into pebbles. One of the grunts nearly managed to run him through with its spear, but Wizard caught on quickly, grabbing the spear under his left arm and firing his gun into its torso.

 _Kitto hitsuyou fukaketsu no ENAJII kokoro no tame_ _(The heart needs that indispensable energy)_

As soon as the grunt was appropriately dazed, Wizard performed a roundhouse kick and knocked the whole lot of grunts left out of the factory building, firing a few more rounds into one that was too close to him and knocking it on its back. While this was going on, more of the grunts were headed in his direction, going around the immobilized grunt in the process.

 _Yume to yosou ii imi de uragitte kureru mono_ _(Dreams and expectations will betray you in a good way)_

Wizard then adjusted his gun to reveal it being a gun with a blade, the sword flipping out after the appropriate adjustment, before he began charging at the grunts.

 _3 2 1 Showtime!_

Wizard began to slice at a few of the grunts, each grunt trying to land a hit of their own on him, though he was far too agile for that.

 _Magic Time! TORIKU ja nai!_ _(Magic Time! It's no trick!)_

Wizard performed a jump that had him soaring above the grunts, getting him ready to slice and dice more of them.

 _Mahou wo hirou hanpa nee zo_ _(The magic display is out of this world!) Mahaluto Hallelujah_

When he landed, he indeed sliced and diced the grunts. He kept on dodging them before they could land a hit on him, which was a point in his favor, and even got a grunt to take a blow meant for him.

 _Kioku no roots moguri-konde kibou sukui-dasou_ _(Dig into the roots of memory and save that hope!)_

Eventually, the minotaur managed to get into the battle, jumping and swinging a single-bladed axe at Wizard. Fortunately for Wizard, he dodged out of the way, even dodging follow-up swings that were aimed at important places to let him dodge.

 _Showtime!_

Wizard lept into the air again, this time going over the grunts and the minotaur, before landing once again.

 _Magic Time! TORIKU ja nai!_ _(Magic Time! It's no trick!)_

The minotaur, using his grunts as a distraction, hightailed it and ran.

 _Mahou wo hirou hanpa nee zo_ _(The magic display is out of this world!) Mahaluto Hallelujah_

Wizard attempted to slice the grunts more thoroughly, but they kept on getting back up for more punishment. When a grunt tried swiping its spear at him, he blocked the weapon with his own weapon for a few seconds, saying, "Please don't get in the way."

 _Kioku no roots moguri-konde kibou sukui-dasou_ _(Dig into the roots of memory and save that hope!)_

With that, he parried the strike properly, knocking the grunt down with a roundhouse kick.

 _Showtime!_

Adjusting his weapon's blade to go back into the position to let him fire his gun, he faced the barrel of the gun up, a black with gold trim part on the side of the gun facing away from him. When he pulled a lever with his left thumb, this part revealed itself as an open hand, compared to the closed hand form it was in earlier. With the hand open, a few colors of light showed up, even as the hand, with Wizard's left hand over the palm, spoke and said, " _C'MON SHOOTING SHAKE HANDS!"_

 _Life is showtime! Tobikiri no unmei no DORAIVU mucha shite mo_ _(Life is showtime! Even if you recklessly drive through fate!) Mahaluto Hallelujah_

The gun started to produce a few magic circles and fire, before calling out the death of the grunts, " _FLAME SHOOTING STRIKE! HII, HII, HII!"_

 _Kinou, kyou, ashita, mirai_ _(Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and in the future…)_

As Wizard fired the rounds he had at the grunts, the voice finished calling out, " _HII, HII, HII!"_

 _Subete no namida wo_ _(…all those tears…) Showtime!_

With each shot, it turned out to be a fireball to the grunt it was aimed at, which caused the stone monsters to explode and disintegrate that way.

 _Houseki ni kaette yaru ze_ _(…I will change them into jewels)_

With the explosions done, Wizard lowered his gun and turned to face his right, looking in the direction of where the minotaur left.

 _Maji ka!? Maji de!? Maji da! Showtime!_ _(Magic? For real?! It's the real thing! Showtime!)_

* * *

Minato and Junpei ran around the factory after the battle took place, hoping to figure out if they'd reach Wizard before anyone else could, for a single reason. Junpei turned his head to face Minato, while running towards Wizard, and asked him, "What are you planning on asking him, dude?"

"I was planning to ask him about if this had to do with his kidnapping a few years back, actually," Minato answered.

"Wait, you mean you met the guy already?" Junpei asked, surprised that Minato knew the guy.

"Well, it was last night, Jun," Minato admitted, "so I didn't get to figure out more stuff than that." A thought then hit him. "Wait, what are you planning on asking him, then?"

"Uh, I was wondering if he'd possibly teach me how to fight like he did without the magic," Junpei answered. "I mean, who knows if I need to defend myself, man?"

"Point taken," Minato said, looking for Wizard for a short bit. When he found the mage, he nudged Junpei to look, allowing them to see the transformed Haruto make a phone call on his cell.

"Oh, Koyomi?" Wizard asked. "I took care of the Ghouls, but the Phantom got away." Walking around as he spoke, he looked up at Garuda, asking over the phone, "Do you know where it went?"

* * *

 _At the location on the other end of the line_

Inside an antique store in Iwatodai, Koyomi, a girl wearing a white lacy shirt underneath a mostly tan dress, looked into a crystal ball to see what Garuda was seeing, even as she answered, "Garu-chan can't do this alone, Haruto. You need to summon more familiars."

" _Listen, using magic is pretty tiring,_ " Haruto said from his end of the phone call.

"I know that," Koyomi answered, "but we don't have any other options."

While Koyomi was speaking with Haruto, the owner of the antique store, one Wajima Shigeru, looked in her direction and silently laughed, before he proceeded to go old-school in making a piece of jewelry that matched Haruto's rings.

* * *

 _Back at the factory_

Haruto hung up the phone as he said, "Geez. That's easy for Koyomi to say." With that, he flipped his Driver to read his right hand rings, as it called out, " _LEPARCH MAGIC TOUCH GO! LEPARCH MAGIC TOUCH GO!"_ While it was calling that out, he switched the Connect Ring with a Familiar Summoning Ring for the Blue Unicorn PlaMonster and placed his right hand over his Driver. " _UNICORN, PLEASE!"_ the Driver called out, as a model kit of sorts appeared and assembled in front of him, floating in midair for the time being. Switching the ring again, this time for the Yellow Kraken, he flipped his Driver twice, letting it call out, " _KRAKEN, PLEASE!"_ As the same happened with Kraken, he pulled the ring off his right hand and gripped it by the face of the ring in his right fingers, the same happening for Unicorn's ring in his left hand. He then placed their rings in specific slots in their bodies, which allowed them to move about, though Unicorn dropped to the ground in order to do so.

While Garuda flew into the Kraken, Haruto instructed his familiars on what to do, saying, "It should be nearby, if you'd please." At that, all three left the area, even as Haruto turned to face the way they left and reverted back to his civilian attire.

Before Junpei and Minato could approach and ask him any questions, though, Daimon's voice came from Haruto's right, causing him to turn his head to face her as she asked, "Are you really a mage?"

"I suppose," he answered nonchalantly, before he began walking away.

While Daimon began running to catch up with Haruto, Minato called out from further out and to Haruto's left, "Hey, Haruto-san! A friend of mine and I were looking for you to ask some non-personal questions!"

Haruto and Daimon looked in the direction of Minato and Junpei, the lattermost of whom waved sheepishly.

Haruto smiled at the other two boys, calling out, "Sure! What are your questions?"

Minato and Junpei jogged over to Haruto, before Minato asked, "Does this have something to do with your kidnapping a few years back?"

Haruto nodded, before saying, "Yes, this has to do with my being kidnapped a few years ago, if you're talking about the fight."

Junpei decided to ask the next question. "Would you please teach me how to fight like you did without the magic involved?"

Haruto blinked in surprise, before he shrugged. "I don't see why not," he answered. "Who knows? It might save your life… supposing you don't look for trouble and only use it for self-defense."

"No worries, man," Junpei nodded. "I got the idea."

At that moment, Daimon finally got back to Haruto, pulling out her ID. "I'm with the Iwatodai Police Department," she said, showing it to all three of them. "I'm Daimon Rinko." Putting the ID away, she said, "It sounded like you know something about those monsters, mister mage."

Haruto looked at Rinko with a slightly confused look, asking, "You mean Phantoms?" Upon hearing a repeat of the term he used from the others, he walked in one direction a short ways and said, "Humans with high levels of magic are known as Gates. If a Gate is killed, a mass of magic is born. That's what those Phantoms are."

* * *

 _Location Unknown_

Minotauros, the Phantom Haruto fought earlier, was walking around, looking for someone… one of his leaders. Eventually, he found said leader, bowing to him and addressing him, " **Phoenix-sama."**

Phoenix, a predominantly red-colored Phantom, 'tched' and jumped over the railing of a stairwell to reach Minotauros' level. " **How can you fail after using all those Ghouls?!"** he questioned, facing Minotauros as he asked, before reverting to the form of his original self. His original self was a young man with a scruffy face, black hair and eyes, a black shirt under a red sleeved vest, green pants, and a pair of white sneakers. "Well?"

" **A mage appeared and got in my way,"** Minotauros answered honestly, thinking only Phoenix was there.

In all reality, however, another Phantom walked up from behind him and asked, " **You mean… Wizard?"**

Minotauros turned to bow to the new Phantom, addressing her with, " **Medusa-sama."**

Medusa walked forward while Minotauros was bowed, walking past him, with him turning to face her when she did so, as she said, " **Our job as Phantoms is to drive Gates to the depths of despair, thus giving birth to new Phantoms."** As she continued to speak, she also reverted to her original form, that of a young woman who had a really long scarf on her neck with a lot of floral patterns on it. "All so Wiseman can once again open a Sabbat."

" **I understand,"** Minotauros said, bowing in reply.

"Then forget about the mage and drive the Gate to despair already!" Phoenix ordered, walking up to Minotauros and grabbing one of his shoulders to make it clear enough.

" **Yes, sir!"**

* * *

 _Back at the factory_

"So if Phantoms attack Gates," Rinko said to Haruto, "does that mean that one of those workers was a Gate?"

Before Haruto could answer, however, Minato coughed into his hand. "Um, I hate to interrupt, but why would one of the workers be a Gate if the Phantom was targeting you specifically?"

"Eh?" Rinko looked at Minato in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"My friend and I were observing, and I couldn't help but notice that only the minotaur one was originally human," Minato answered. "Truth is, if Phantoms used to be humans, it would make sense to me that the Ghouls, those stone things, were really there to draw the Gate out of wherever."

Junpei took a moment to ask Minato, "Dude, how can you tell that sort of thing?"

"I claim hereditary nature," Minato answered. "Let's leave it at that, shall we?"

Junpei drooped his head in defeat. "Okay, fine, you win… though I'd like to know more later."

"Deal."

Rinko then thought of something, causing her to rush in front of Haruto. "Wait a moment! How can you even use magic in the first place?"

"It's because I'm keeping a Phantom in my body," Haruto answered, before he caught Minato raising an eyebrow at him. "Well, that and I didn't die because of the Phantom trying to kill me from within," he amended.

Rinko sighed in what seemed to be relief. "Okay, so you're still yourself?" she asked to make sure. When she got a nod, she asked, "When was this?"

"A few years ago, actually," Haruto answered.

"How old were you?"

"About 12 to 13."

Minato and Junpei recoiled in shock. "Wait, you're _our_ age?!" They exclaimed at the same time.

Rinko took that as a cue to look at Haruto's clothing choice. "Hmm…" she let out. "No school uniform, though you can probably get away with looking like you're older, but still… why aren't you in a school uniform?"

Haruto looked decidedly uncomfortable at that. "Well…"

Rinko sighed irritably. "Okay, fine, though you're going to go back to school sooner than later," she said in a tone of no arguments, which everyone else winced at. "Am I clear?"

Haruto sighed a deep sigh of despair, before saying, "Crystal clear."

* * *

 _Next time on A Wizard in Iwatodai:_

" _Class, we have a new student joining us."_

" _These are irrefutable orders from above!"_

" _Welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Philemon, a dweller between consciousness and unconsciousness."_

" _T_ _he finale!"_

" _Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man."_

* * *

 **Xamusel: Okay, that took a fair bit of time since I actually got the chapter started over a week ago, back when I finished the rough draft of the prologue. Now, this rough draft was finished in the early morning of April 7th, 2016. I hope to see what else can be done by the time the next chapter is officially finished past rough draft.**

 **Please note that there won't be any other instances of theme songs in stories any further than here for the A Wizard in Iwatodai block of stories. When it comes time for the sequel, which is tentatively named "Ride to the Beat of Death", there will only be one use of the theme song Just Live More by Gaim no Kaze… and that's actually at the very beginning of that story. In terms of the Persona 4 sequel to come after Ride to the Beat of Death, well, I'm going to be doing much the same thing with that one for the song "Surprise Drive".**

 **Takeshi Yamato: Also, yes, Minato and Yukari have become a couple at the start of the story again, this time having sex on Minato's very first night there. This is sort of a 'key point' for the AWiI series now** **—** **Minato and Yukari are childhood friends in this version of events, quite possibly childhood sweethearts, or at least very close to it. They've been separated for ten years, but absence has made the heart grow much, much fonder** **—** **in my opinion, it makes sense for them to hook up so soon after meeting again. And yes, if you read the first AWiI URE, Yukari** _ **does**_ **get pregnant from this first time.**

 **Xamuel: Yeah, always a good point to consider, that last one. Well… what else? Oh, right, I mentioned a "block of stories", didn't I? Well, the different side stories Takeshi and I planned for this series would be what splits the content of the saga up. Here's hoping that Takeshi and I didn't shoot ourselves in the foot for this one.**

 **EDIT 4/22/2016: Why do I have the distinct feeling that this was supposed to be out sooner than it is? Could it just be my imagination?**

 **Now, I hope to see you guys at a later time, supposing you guys are inclined to come and review for this. Please leave us your thoughts on the subject. -Xamusel**


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